1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method and an image processing program product, and more particularly to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method and an image processing program product that can carry out image processing such that a charged amount does not exceed an upper limit of the charged amount.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, it has been common that printing charge in an image processing apparatus such as a copying machine is calculated based on the number of printed pages. A user, however, has felt unfair about the fact that the charge for printing is uniform regardless of a size of a print area and the fact that, when a monochrome area occupies most part while a colored area is small, a type of printing is classified as expensive color printing.
In order to eliminate such feeling of unfairness, various charging methods have been proposed.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Nos. 09-138621 and 2003-114596 disclose an image forming apparatus capable of changing a copy charge in accordance with an amount of toner consumption.
In addition, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Nos. 09-138621 and 2000-019906 disclose an image forming apparatus including an economy mode for suppressing an amount of toner consumption.
Moreover, the image forming apparatus disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 09-138621 allows the user to select a mode by presenting a charge at the time of mode selection.
According to such a charging method as changing a copy charge in accordance with an amount of toner consumption as disclosed in the publication above, however, it is difficult to expect a printing charge and the charged amount sometimes exceeds user's budget.
In addition, even when the user can know the charge in advance, there has been a disadvantage. Specifically, if the charged amount exceeds the upper limit that has been set by the user, the user has to perform a burdensome operation, such as finding optimal setting by trying various types of settings so that the charged amount does not exceed the set upper limit.